Auto show raises dough

Future Automotive Service Technicians Club hosts their rst auto show

An old English proverb that states “necessity is the mother of invention” proves true for the Pierce College Future Automotive Service Technicians (F.A.S.T.) Club at their first car show on campus Saturday.

The day was hot from the word go; public address speakers blasted rock ‘n’ roll; hungry show-goers gobbled tri-tip hoagies and hot dogs, while others cooled their bones in the shade talking with colleagues and friends over a cold drink.

THE CARS

Roughly two dozen show car entries and a handful of sponsors showed their support for the student club’s effort to raise money and awareness for their program. The event even drew walk-up students and those driving by, like Roland Horovitz and his family.

Aspiring demolition expert in practicum at home, Horovitz, 11, said that he asked his mom to park the car after driving back from a swim tryout where he placed as an intermediate.

“My favorite car was the old one that’s older than my dad,” Horovitz said.

That truck belongs to F.A.S.T. member Kerrie Gordon’s dad, Kelsey. It’s a stock 1949 Chevy pick up truck that took Best in Show at the fundraiser, the club’s Public Relations Officer Dan Poppell said.

Several other awards were given at the show but an official list was not provided to the Roundup by the time of publication.

F.A.S.T. Club President Chase Williams, 21, signed in show cars as they rolled up.

“We are accepting cars from your Hondas to your rat rods,” he said. “For our first car show we’re pretty pleased with it. We weren’t planning on anything big; we just wanted to get our name out there [and] get everyone interested in next year.”

The cars ranged from a low-rider tweaked to starboard on hydraulics, off-road trucks, sports cars, modified Honda race cars and others still.

Doug Sofio, a retired studio carpenter from Arleta, “the Beverly Hills of Pacoima,” found a flyer on the windshield of his 1923 Ford “T-bucket” he has had since age 14, he said. He backed up the 17-inch wide tires in between a red Triumph TR6 and a glittering blue Chevy Camaro race car owned by Pierce adjunct instructor Mark Schatkun.

Sofio went to Pierce for a few years beginning in 1969, he said. Though he was never a professional mechanic, Sofio said he has raced boats, top-fuel funny cars, and pro stock street racing cars.

His son Junior raced open-wheel in Long Beach, he said Schatkun’s Camaro is a well-built and tested race car that has won him many races at local tracks, he said.

“They call me Shotgun. I used to race that Camaro right over there for 20 years at the Los Angeles County Raceway.”

[See CARS, page 3]

Similar forums are taking place in the other eight colleges in the district. From these meetings, the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) will be developing the finalized profile, which will be posted in the next week or two in a search site dedicated to the application process.

“We’re working very hard to come up with a recruitment strategy that will work with this district. Obviously, the LA district is very different and unique compared to other districts in the country,” said Julie Golder, search services coordinator/board of services specialist from the ACCT. “The profile plays a key role in the recruitment strategy.”

One of the biggest issues that the district as a whole is going through is the number of LACCD colleges that have gotten sanctions following accreditation reviews. All of the three colleges visited last year, as well as two of the three campuses visited this year, have had their accreditation threatened.

“Once the stigma is out there, it’s damaging to the district,” said Tom Rosdahl, president of Academic

Senate. “If half of the district is under sanctions, people aren’t going to want to come here. We need a chancellor that understands the accreditation process in the state of California.”

Another issue brought up by officials is accountability between the district and campus leadership.

“The chancellor needs to make administration and staff all along the line accountable,” Rosdahl said. “You can’t have people in jobs they can’t do. We’ve had college presidents in the past that should’ve gone bye-bye but was able to continue.”

Officials are additionally concerned with the quality of leadership that prospects will possess.

“We need somebody who’s going to lead, not somebody who will make a committee to lead,” De La Garza said.

The future chancellor’s longterm commitment to the position is also something that concerns Pierce officials.

“[He should be here] long enough to make changes,” Perrett said. “That’s the way the system is set up, unfortunately.”

This is something that was acknowledged by LaVista in a letter sent out by his office last February.

“The Chancellor who leads this… district must take the long view and make a long-term commitment, something I’m unable to do,” according to the email.

Golder said that she doesn’t expect a large pool of candidates for the position.

“There will not be 100 applicants. We’ve never seen that,” Golder said.

After the applicants are narrowed down, the process goes to a search committee, then is brought to the LACCD board of trustees for the final decision.

According to Golder, the final profile should be done by the next LACCD board of trustees meeting. Once that is done, the interviews will take place mid-September, and the final decision should be made by the end of September or beginning of October.

Contributing Fahema Kakar